Batch processing: The grouping together of several processing jobs to be executed one after another by a computer, without any user interaction. This is achieved by placing a list of the commands to start the required jobs into a BATCH FILE that can be executed as if it were a single program: hence batch processing is most often used in operating systems that have a COMMAND LINE user interface. Indeed, batch processing was the normal mode of working in the early days of mainframe computers, but modern personal computer applications typically require frequent user interaction, making them unsuitable for batch execution.

Running a batch file is one example of batch processing, but there are plenty of others. When you select several documents from the same application and print them all in one step (if the application allows you to do that), you are "batch printing," which is a form of batch processing. Or let's say that you want to send a whole group of files to someone else via your modem-if your communications software permits batch processing, you can choose all the files you want to send, and have the software send them off in a batch while you go to the kitchen for a snack. Batch processing is a good feature to have in most applications.